2 Corinthians 13: 14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
In the name of the Triune God, amen.
In this greeting, Saint Paul blesses the Corinthians by the Triune God. It is still a greeting for us today. We who need grace, we who need God's love, we who have no fellowship on our own. We broke our fellowship with God when we first sinned in the garden of Eden. At that time we also threw away our fellowship with each other. Remember what the response of Adam was when God asked him what he had done? He blamed his wife. One wonders if we are even able to have fellowship with ourselves. We ride in our cars with the radio on. At home we sit in front of the TV. We never like to be alone with ourselves.
Still God loved us. Still He gave us grace in Christ Jesus. Now our fellowship with God is restored in the Holy Spirit. Now we again have fellowship with each other as we come together as one body in Christ. Now we don't have to be afraid to be alone with ourselves because we can answer our nagging consciences, "Christ has died for every sin of which you accuse me."
So, when we hear the blessing of Saint Paul, we can be sure that God does love us in Christ. We can also be sure that we do have real fellowship with God in the Holy Spirit. What was lost by us has been restored by God. Therefore, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, You are to be worshipped and praised by all people because You loved us so much that You gave us grace in our Lord Jesus, so that we could have fellowship with You in the Holy Spirit. Keep us in our faith so that we always remain in fellowship with You, amen.